TV in Syria is instruments of propaganda for the Assad regime

Watching talk shows and comic soap operas on state television in Syria, one may well wonder whether the country is really in the throes of a deadly crisis.

It took a deadly attack on the regime's crisis cell on July 18, and the spread of violence into several Damascus neighbourhoods over the past 10 days, before the channel finally turned to covering real news.

But even now, its coverage of the conflict that has gripped the country remains at best minimal.

More than 16 months into the outbreak of an anti-regime revolt, the state broadcaster dedicates practically all of its airtime to topics as mundane as the benefits of a vegetarian diet, the country's heritage and aerobics sessions.

Life, according to Syrian TV, is normal.

After the attack that killed four top regime officials -- including President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawkat -- the state broadcaster's tone became more sombre.

For the first time, footage showing the bloodied corpses of rebel fighters was aired, as were images of soldiers proud to declare they had "cleansed" neighbourhoods of Damascus from "terrorists, at the behest of residents."

Such footage was broadcast to reassure a public that has long and repeatedly been told that Syria faces a "conspiracy" that "Syria will not give in," and that "terrorists want to sow chaos."

The jingoism has grown even more flagrant in recent days, with television spots showing images of battle-hardened troops in special training. Syria's "brave armed forces" are celebrated with patriotic music and slogans blared across the airwaves.

The story so far according to Syrian state television stands in stark contrast to the version of events put out by pan-Arab satellite channels Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.

While both are vilified by the Damascus regime for their continuous coverage of the revolt, state television keeps the spotlight firmly on Assad's version of what is happening.

Much of its airtime is devoted to more humdrum topics.

With much of the country ablaze, Syrian viewers wake up to images of a young man who explains "how to develop the biceps and triceps." The trainer stands in a room decorated with a poster that, in English, reads: "Enjoy a healthy life."

Next, it's a talk show and to learn about "the benefits of brown bread," "ostrich farming in Syria," "the revival of oriental music in Sweida" in southern Syria, "an antiques exhibition in Aleppo" in the north, or "cooking in Ramadan."

And now that the holy Muslim month has arrived, Syrian soap operas are the channel's biggest highlight.

-- 'They take us for idiots' --

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Just days before fighting hit the capital in mid-July, a report in English announced the arrival of "summer in Damascus, so charming thanks to the jacaranda trees."

When fierce fighting erupted in the Midan district of Damascus, the channel sent over a correspondent so viewers could be reassured that "all is well."

Speaking live, the correspondent interviewed several visibly frightened people about a situation he reported as "calm," when suddenly loud explosions and shooting were heard.

The video has now gone viral among anti-regime activists, who often mock state television's portrayal of the Syrian crisis.

Pro-regime channels are the only ones allowed in public spaces in Damascus, but even Assad's supporters are often not convinced by the coverage.

"We certainly support the government and the army, but (pro-regime) channels are definitely not telling the truth," Bassam, a Damascus grocer, told AFP.

Ahmed, a young Syrian refugee who recently arrived in Beirut, does not watch state television either. "I used to watch it before, but I stopped," he told AFP. "They take us for idiots."

A Syrian regime supporter in Beirut admitted that "they exaggerate. They speak neither of the demonstrations nor about the opposition."

Public television and radio have been subject to US and EU sanctions for several months, for being deemed to be instruments of propaganda for the regime.

Manaf Tlass : a handsome general ?

via Yahoo News

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's most prominent defector offered himself up Thursday as a figure to unite the fractious opposition, saying he failed to persuade his former friend, President Bashar Assad, to end a bloody crackdown that has killed thousands of Syrians.

The remarks by Manaf Tlass, a Syrian brigadier general until he abandoned the regime this month, were published in a Saudi newspaper just as opposition factions gathered in Qatar to try to agree on a transitional leadership if Assad's regime falls.

Some opposition members are deeply skeptical of Tlass, believing he's far too close to the regime.

Mahmoud Othman, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, said Tlass would simply "bring back the regime with a different image."

"Those who recently defected from the regime must not take part in leading the transitional period," Othman told The Associated Press from Istanbul, where he is based. "After the transitional period, the Syrian people will choose whomever they want through the ballots."

Members of the SNC met Thursday, but made no decisions on a possible leadership to fill the vacuum if Assad falls, according to Burhan Ghalioun, a former leader of the group.

The SNC has acted as the international face of the revolution, but it has been unable to unite all dozens of disparate rebel and opposition factions under one banner.

Ghalioun said talks would continue Friday and could stretch on past this series of meetings.

Tlass, a commander in the powerful Republican Guard and the son of a former defense minister, defected three weeks ago. Although the regime has remained largely intact over the course of the 17-month-old uprising, the pace of defections appears to be picking up.

"I will try to help as much as I can to unite all the honorable people inside and outside Syria to put together a roadmap to get us out of this crisis, whether there is a role for me or not," he told the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily in an interview.

He said he was in Saudi Arabia — a key financial backer of the rebellion — to assess what kind of assistance the oil-rich nation could give to help create a new Syria. He said he does not see a future for Syria with Assad at the helm. The last time he saw the president, he said, was about a year ago.

Turkey's Foreign Ministry also announced a surprise visit by Tlass on Thursday. He attended a dinner with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who has been an outspoken Assad critic. Turkey's intelligence chief and a senior foreign ministry official also were at the dinner.

Tlass left Davutoglu's residence after about an hour, wearing a dark suit with a light blue shirt, the top buttons undone. He didn't take any questions and was driven away in the back of a BMW.

Since his defection, Tlass has spoken publicly only twice, both times to Saudi-controlled media.

Tlass, once a personal friend of Assad, told the newspaper that the regime has many good people without blood on their hands and that the country's institutions should be preserved. He said he tried to persuade the president not to listen to his inner circle of security advisers who were all recommending a harsh crackdown on the uprising.

Tlass said he defected when he realized the regime could not be deterred from its single-minded pursuit of crushing the opposition.

"Sometimes in a friendship you advise a friend many times, and then you discover that you aren't having any impact, so you decide to distance yourself," he said.

A handsome man in his mid-40s, Manaf led an extravagant lifestyle, and he and his wife were fixtures on the social scene in Syria, where he often spoke on Assad's behalf.

Tlass was also a powerful Sunni in a government dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. His father, Mustafa Tlass, was the most trusted lieutenant of the late Hafez Assad, the president's father and predecessor.

The conflict in Syria, which activists say has killed more than 19,000 people since March 2011, has drawn deep international condemnation. But world powers have few options to help beyond diplomacy — in part because of fears that any military intervention could exacerbate an already explosive battle. Syria's close ties to Iran and the Islamic militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon mean that the conflict has the potential to draw in the country's neighbors.

In Washington, the Obama administration is weighing its options for more direct involvement in the Syrian civil war if the rebels opposing the Assad regime can wrest enough control to create a safe haven for themselves, U.S. officials said.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it's only a matter of time before the rebels have enough territory and organization to create such areas.

"More and more territory is being taken," Clinton said this week. "It will eventually result in a safe haven inside Syria, which will then provide a base for further actions by the opposition."

Still, U.S. officials are insisting they won't provide arms to Syria's anti-Assad forces or push for a no-fly zone over rebel-controlled areas.

For more than a week, Assad's regime has suffered a string of blows, although his forces are regaining their momentum. After a rebel rush on the capital — including a brazen bombing that killed four top regime insiders — the government routed the fighters by calling in attack helicopters and heavy weapons that devastated entire neighborhoods.

Rebels have been fighting for six days in the commercial capital Aleppo, and on Thursday they braced for a government onslaught amid reports that the regime is massing reinforcements to retake the embattled city of 3 million. They reported more intense firepower being used against them, including artillery strikes.

"Regime forces have been randomly shelling neighborhoods, and the civilians are terrified," local activist Mohammed Saeed told the AP via Skype.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington has "grave concerns" about tanks and fighter jets being used in a densely populated city.

"The concern is that we will see a massacre in Aleppo, and that's what the regime appears to be lining up for," she said.

The clashes have spread to neighborhoods close to the center of the city, which has a medieval center that is a UNESCO world heritage site.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, some 130 people have been killed in Aleppo since the clashes there began last Saturday.

As the violence continues, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he fears for Syria's future. On Thursday, he paid his respects to the 8,000 victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre — and said he does not want his successor to have to do the same 20 years from now in Syria.

"The international community must be united not to see any further bloodshed in Syria because I do not want to see any of my successors, after 20 years, visiting Syria, apologizing for what we could have done now to protect the civilians in Syria — which we are not doing now," he said during a visit to a memorial-cemetery complex near Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Religion has little impact in U.S. race: poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The religious faiths of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will have little weight in November's presidential election, a poll showed on Thursday.

Sixty percent of voters are aware that Romney is a Mormon, and 81 percent say it does not matter to them, according to the poll by the Pew Research Center. The awareness level is almost unchanged from four months ago, during the Republican primary elections.

"Unease with Romney's religion has little impact on voting preferences," the Pew report said.

"Republicans and white evangelicals overwhelmingly back Romney irrespective of their views of his faith, and Democrats and seculars overwhelmingly oppose him regardless of their impression."

The United States has never had a Mormon president.

Obama is a Christian but the view that he is Muslim persists almost four years into his presidency, with 17 percent of voters saying he is Muslim. Forty-nine percent say he is Christian, down from 55 percent near the end of his 2008 campaign, and 31 percent say they do not know Obama's religion.

Among conservative Republicans, 34 percent say Obama, a Democrat, is Muslim, the poll showed.

Overall, 45 percent of voters are comfortable with Obama's religion, 5 percent say it does not matter and 19 percent are uncomfortable.

About two-thirds of voters - 67 percent - agree with the statement "It's important to me that a president have strong religious beliefs." The level has changed little in the past decade.

But 66 percent oppose churches or other houses of worship endorsing political candidates.

The telephone survey was carried out by Pew's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press from June 28 to July 9.

The poll sampled 2,973 adults, including 2,373 registered voters. The margin of error for adults was 2.1 percentage points and 2.3 percentage points for voters.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Bill Trott)

A note about the curious case of Jimmy Holmes

[I have read a lot about Jimmy case. According to the latest news,Jimmy had sent a notebook to the uni counsellor that he was going to kill some people. He detaild his plan on that notebook which just be collected on Monday. However the book had been already there since 12 of July,as police believed. Just the uni fail to send it to the uni councellor as Jimmy intended to. FYI, the police knew about the package because Jimmy told them. So, this case is going to be more complex than we expect.

It was Jimmy who tipped of the police about his booby-trap apartment. It was also Jimmy who inform the police about the notebook. So, in this case, Jimmy seemed to be a good person. If only the counsellor receive his package, thd tragedy would not happen. (to be continued)
]

posted from Bloggeroid

Ri Sol Ju is the mystery woman from North Korea

North Korean state media ended weeks of speculation today, announcing that the mystery woman who has accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on recent public events is his wife.

Referring to her as Ri Sol Ju, the station reported on the couple's visit to Neung Ra People's Resort during the 8 p.m. broadcast, identifying Ri by name for the first time, and identifying her as "wife" four times during the news report.

"As welcome news played, our Marshal Kim Jong Un and his wife comrade Ri Sol Ju came to the inauguration," the announcer read.

Ri, wearing a black skirt with a burgundy jacket in black heels, was shown walking alongside Kim at the resort followed by Kim's uncle Jang Song-Taek, known to be the power behind the new leader. In another scene, she was seen sitting on the right side of Kim while being briefed by officials.

Ri, a short-haired woman who appears to be in her 20s or early 30s, made her first public appearance with Kim on July 5, wearing a yellow polka dot dress and white jacket, during a concert in Pyongyang.

Since then, she's been seen walking next to the new leader on a visit to the mausoleum of his father and late leader Kim Il Sung. On Tuesday, state television aired photos of the woman standing next to Kim during a visit to a kindergarten. She was seen smiling, as Kim hugged and talked to children, with officials standing behind the couple.